Regulating-hook for piano-actions



W. A. GOBLE.

REGULATING HOOK FOR PIANO ACTIONS. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 10. I919.

1,351,512. 1 Patented Aug. 31, 1920.

WALTER A. GOBLE, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

BEGULATING-HOOK FOR PIANO-ACTIONS.

Application filed November 10, 1919.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER A. Gonna, a citizen of the United States of America, re siding at Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Im rovements in Regulating-Hooks for Pianoctions; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to a piano action. being concerned with a regulating device therefor, specifically a regulating hook which may be very cheaply and economically manufactured, attached to and combined with the piano action in a very simple manner and one which may, by simply bending the hook to different positions, regulate the action of the piano as desired.

For understanding of the construction by which these ends are attained reference may be had to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which: Figure 1' is a side elevation of the operating parts of the piano action as is used to operate one of the hammers, the rail on which all of the said actions in a piano are mounted being shown in transverse section.

Fig; 2 is a similar view with some parts not concerned with my invention removed, but showing the operation of the action at the termination of the working.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary front elevation of the action rail, jack and regulating hook such as used with one hammer.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in the different views of the drawing.

I have shown the construction as it appears with one hammer in a piano. Inasmuch as all of the others are du licates, a showing on one suflices for all. The piano action rail 1 extends the full length of the piano and a distance above and back of the key-board. From the upper portion thereof a short flange 2 extends on which the hammer butt 3 is pivotally mounted; the hammer consisting of the upwardly extending rod 4 and the usual head (not shown in the drawing), is attached to and rojects upwardly from the hammer butt. he under side of the hammer butt is covered Specification of Letters Patent;

Patented Aug. 31, 1920.

Serial No. 336,995.

with felt, leather or similar material as indicated at 5. On the action rail 1 all of the various hammers of a piano are mounted in this manner, lying alongside of each other.

From the lower part of the rail 1 a wippen 6 extends downwardly. to which a lever 7 is pivotally mounted extending forwardly from the wippen. A link- 8 extends downwardly from'thelever 7 and has the usual operative connection with a piano key whereby on depression of the key the lever 7 is thrown upwardly about its pivotal connection to the wippen 6.' In front of the rail 1 a supporting post 9 is connected to and extends upwardly from the lever 7. A jack in the form of a bell-crank lever is pivotally mounted on the post 9 having an upwarr ly extending arm 10 which, normall at its upper end engages against the fe t or leather 5 and a forwardly extending shorter arm 11 between which and the lever 7 a coiled compression spring 12 is located, the effect of which is to turn the upper end of the arm 10 to the rear. On the upper side of the forwardly extending shorter arm 11 a pad 13 of felt or like material is secured.

The regulating hook is preferably formed of wire and consists of a section 14 threaded at one end so as to be readily screwed into the rail 1 and, at its opposite end, being turned at right angles to form a section 15. This hook is attached to the rail 1 in such position that the section 14 is located at one side of the arm 10 of the jack, while the section 15 turns across and normally lies a short distance above the pad 13 of its associated jack.

In operation when a piano key is depressed and the forward end ofthe lever 7 elevated, the first effect is to elevate the ack with the lever and thus turn the hammer about its pivot where connected to the flange 2, turning the hammer to the rear so that it will strike its associated wire. Immediately before the hammer strikes the wire the pad 13 comes into engagement with the section 15 of the regulating hook so that on continued upwardly movement of the lever 7 the jack is turned about its pivot with a compression of the spring 12 and a movement of the upwardly extending arm 10 of the jack to the position shown in Fig. 2. The hammer under the influence of the momentum imparted to it will continue to move until it strikes the piano wire and will then immediately return being free to do so by reason of the fact that the arm 10 of the jack has disengaged from the hammer butt and is out of the way.

Each of the piano jacks may be equipped tionl t and driving the same into the rail '1.

F or regulating the piano action it is only necessary to bend the section i l either up or down as desired. This is a very simple operation. VVit-h this invention the regulation of piano actions is very much simplified.

The cost of manufacture. in a piano having a large number of these actions to regulate is materially reduced. The construction is very durable and is not in any way liable to getout of order. Every hook is independent of the others and may be independently bent either up or down for the regulation of the action with which it is associated. While I have shown the hook as made of wire having a circular cross section, it is of course, apparent that this construction may be widely varied in detail and the cross sectional shape as may be desired. The invention is defined in the appended claims and I consider myself entitled to all modifications of struc ture falling within their scope.

I claim: v

1. In a piano action, a supporting rail, a piano ack pivotally mounted adjacent the supporting rail and havingan arm extend ing upwardly adapted to engage a hammer butt, and a regulating hook secured to and extending from the rail and turned to pass in front of the upwardly extending portion ofthe jack, said hook being normally rigid but bendable to different positions, and said jack having apart extending away from its pivot and normally lying under the free end of the hook, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. In combination ina piano action, a supporting rail a hammer pivotally mounted on said rail, a jack pivotally mounted in front of the rail and normally adapted to engage at its upper end with the. hammer butt, and an individual regulating means attache-c to and extending in front of the rail and having a part located in the path of mo ment of the jack to engage with the and disassociate it from the hammer butt a; a predetermined point,'said regulating means being bendable to different positions to determine saidpoint of disassocia'tion, substantially as described. v

3. In combination in a piano action, a horizontal action rail, a hammerpivotally mounted at its lower end at the upper part of the rail, a wippen pivotally mounted at its front end at the lower portion of the rail, a piano jack comprising an upwardly extending arm and forwardly extending portion of shorter length pivot-ally. carried by thewippen in front of the rail, the upper end of the upwardly extending arm of the jack normally engaging with the hammer butt, and a wire hook attached to the rail and extending in front thereof'with its free end turned to normally lie above the forwardly extending portion of the jack, said wire being bendable to different positions,

substantially as and for the purposes described.

kln a construction of the character described, a supporting rail adapted to support pivotally mounted piano hammers, a jack adapted to operate each hammer mount ed in front of the rail, and a regulating hook attached to the rail for each jack between the upper and lower ends of the jack and extending from said rail, said hook ha ving a portion at its free end turned to lie in the path ofmovement' of the jack, said hook being normally rigid but bendable to different positionsso as to engage with the jack at different times in the operation of the piano action tothereby regulate said action, substantially as and for the purposes described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

WALTER A; costs.- 

